Fundog mentioned on another thread that she'd be interested in hearing about the gundog version of the 'find it' game so I thought I'd start a thread on the topic rather than bog down the original posters thread.
Find it... or rather hunting is completely natural to a greater or lesser degree for all dogs. They just love it, whither their hunting for game in the field or hunting for toys or treats at home... it's just brilliant fun and a brilliantly stimulating way to exercise any dog...
Obviously, having gundogs, I do most of my training in the great outdoors but this can easily be modified to an indoors version.
Here is a video of my oldest cocker before her first shooting season learning how to 'quarter'...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhEkVvoH4-I&NR=1
Quartering is the back and forth action a dog makes while hunting a piece of ground to ensure all the ground has been covered in case there's some game or rabbits hiding there. The idea behind a spaniels quartering pattern is that it should be tight enough that anything that is flushed is flushed close enough to the handler to be within shotgun range. The dog should, stop when the flush occurs so that the handler gets a clear shot and the dog is safe...
In the gundog world there are three basic whistle commands which are...
1 Peep = stop, sit and look at me
2 peeps = change direction and go in the opposite direction
3 peeps or more = recall
It is common to use tennis balls in early hunting and retrieving 'games' while training young inexperienced dogs and also in the off season when game isn't available. I use proper tennis balls from a sports shop rather than the cheap 'doggy' type tennis balls which split easily if the dog bites down on them. Gundogs shouldn't bite down and using softer tennis balls that split can encourage them to bite down because of the 'dissect' instinct which makes destroying things like tennis balls fun.
I use tennis balls but you could use any toys your dog likes or you could use treats but if you're working outside in long grass for example, your dog will have trouble getting to treats and the game may break down but whatever floats your dogs boat. If your dog doesn't like tennis balls you can make them more interesting by storing them in a polythene bag with some smelly cheese
.When starting the 'find it' game, I lay out a corridor of at least 6 tennis balls in long tussocky grass between 10 - 20 yards apart. I try to bury them in the tussocks to give the dogs something to get their noses into... I've heard of people making piles of cushions and hiding the balls under them at home which is a brilliant idea for a rainy day or if you live in a city but for the purpose of this post, i'll assume grass
.Now the fun bit starts... you have to find your most excited voice and use words like 'where is it' or 'find it' and run over to where the first ball is with your dog and excitedly rustle the grass with your hand and be very, very vocal with your high pitched excited voice.
The aim here is to get the dog to find whatever it is you've hidden when it's close to you. This has two benefits, one is that if your dog won't retrieve the item you can simply take it from the dog because it's close and secondly it instills in the dog that the 'find' happened when you were close to it.
As soon as you take the item from the dog give a quick praise/reward and immediately run over to the next tussock or whatever and repeat. This goes on for the whole corridor as you go from left to right or vice versa.
It's brilliant fun for you and the dog and it allows you to make yourself look like a fool in a public place which is always good
Here's a video of my youngest cocker who at 11 months has quite a story to tell. I got her at 9 months old and she was very fearful... Note the very quick praise when she finds the ball, because the highest reward for these working dogs is to work some more a lot of praise just delays the process for them... You can see how she loves it, I've never seen a cocker smile as much as this one does
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMAq_--hAxs
What you can't see is my hands gesticulating in each direction (and holding my phone at the same time
) I like shake my hand as I extend my arm because the dogs see the movement better. I also rustle the grass not only where the balls are but just in general to really help them get their nose down.Your dog will very quickly learn to 1. stay around you and 2. to take direction from you so that your running about can become a casual walk down the corridor of tennis balls or toys or whatever... If you want to add the whistle then just try to time your peep-peeps when the dog naturally changes direction so that the association is built that way. Then, when the dog starts to 'get it' you can use the peep-peep to start the game, and encourage the dog to go in the direction of your choosing...
Have fun...
